A Second Chance at First Love
by Shipping Goddess
Summary: AU. No demons or hellmouth. Best friends Buffy and Faith say they'll keep in touch after graduation, but we all know how that goes. Years later, they run into each other unexpectedly. Live for feedback. Will write sequel if enough requests.


**Dedicated to Morgypoo. Hope you get enough fluffies to open your own teddy bear factory**

A Second Chance at First Love

A _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ AU

Sunnydale High-Graduation

The graduates filed out of the courtyard, many of them crying and hugging friends they knew they'd probably never see again, reminiscing together over the last 12 years of their lives, and planning out which parties to attend. Buffy Summers managed to locate her friends Xander and Willow near the edge of the crowd and walked over to them excitedly. She wiped the excited tears from her eyes as they group-hugged.

"We finally did it, guys!" Willow squealed excitedly, choking up a little. Her friends both nodded, grinning.

"So, Bronze at eight?" Xander asked, affirming their plan to meet up at the local club later on, after attending miscellaneous acquaintances' parties.

"Definitely," Willow and Buffy replied in unison.

"Cool," Xander said, giving his friends' shoulders a final squeeze before rushing off to congratulate one of his buddies from the swim team. Willow wandered off to find Tara, leaving Buffy to herself. Buffy wiped the tears from her eyes once more. She felt someone tap her shoulder and turned around quickly.

"Oh my God, Faith!" Buffy said, surprised and excited to see her friend there. Even though Faith had miraculously managed to pass her core classes, she had decided to skip the ceremony in favor of packing up for her move back to Boston. "What are you doing here?"

"Surprise," Faith said lamely, reaching her arms out to the blonde. Buffy threw herself at Faith in an eager hug, effectively knocking them both to the ground. "Oof! Dang B, excited much?" Faith stood up and held out a hand to help her friend.

"I'm just… Really glad you showed," Buffy said, accepting the gesture gratefully. Faith smiled at Buffy with an eyebrow raised.

"What, and miss the party? Right," Faith rolled her eyes at the mass of students all around them, before adding sarcastically "Just too bad I didn't get one of those _wicked_ hats."

"Actually, they're caps. And here," Buffy said, placing her cap on Faith's head. "Aww, Faith! You look adorable!"

Faith snorted in disbelief, but couldn't keep from smiling at the compliment. "Thanks, B, but you can keep it. Not really my style." She handed the cap back to Buffy.

"Oh hey, are you Bronzing tonight?" Buffy asked hopefully.

"I might swing by," Faith answered noncommittally. She looked over Buffy's shoulder to find a much more annoying blonde approaching them. "Well, I really just came to see you and it looks like Harmony's making her way over here so I'd better go before I have to kill her for being so annoying. Plus I have a lot more packing to do."

Buffy remembered Faith was supposed to be moving early the next morning and her eyes instantly filled with tears. The two girls hugged tightly for a few moments before Faith pulled away. She looked Buffy in the eyes and saw she was on the verge of tears. "Hey, none of that sissy crying crap. You'll ruin your makeup." She touched Buffy's cheek and pushed a blonde lock of hair behind her friend's ear. "See ya around, B. We'll keep in touch, 'kay?"

Buffy sniffled and grabbed Faith's hand. "For real, right?" She asked. "Not just one of those 'oh yeah we'll talk' and then we don't ever see each other again things, right? You promise you'll call me, like every day?"

"Cross my heart," Faith replied, deep brown eyes meeting green eyes in promise. She drew an X in the air over her chest. They hugged again and Buffy let out a silent sob on her friend's shoulder. Faith knew that if she let a single tear fall, she wouldn't be able to stop herself. That was why she never cried.

And, with only one look back at her friend, Faith left.

In the beginning, they really did talk everyday. A few months went by and everyday turned into every week. Every week turned into once in a while, and eventually once in a while faded as the rest. The girls moved on with their lives, but each thought of the other fondly and often.

Sunnydale Mall-Present Day

Buffy's arms were loaded with potential purchases as she walked into the fitting room in the women's department of Bloomingdale's. She dropped her pile of clothes on the chair inside the first room and looked at it excitedly, silently thanking God for her recent promotion and rather generous raise.

"This is gonna be fun," she decided aloud, with stars and dollar signs dancing in her eyes.

Almost half an hour had passed of Buffy trying on different clothes, sorting the articles into piles depending on how they fit, when to her surprise, the door to her fitting room opened. She yelped in surprise and grabbed the closest article of clothing to cover her naked torso.

"Whoa, sorry!" A woman said, covering her eyes and backing out of the room quickly. "The door wasn't locked and I didn't know and I didn't even see anything anyway so-whoa crap!" The woman said as she tripped over an errant clothes hanger on the floor and landed on her rear.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" Buffy asked, holding a hand out to help the woman up.

"I'm five-by-five, just really embarrassed" the woman said, taking the offered hand. To her surprise, however, she found herself on the floor again a moment later. "Hey! What the hell?!" She demanded.

"Oh my God," Buffy said softly. "Faith?"

"Huh? How do you-?" Faith looked up into the face of the woman. Her eyes widened in realization. "Buffy?"

"Faith!" Buffy exclaimed, grabbing the other woman's hand. She pulled Faith upright and into the fitting room, and threw herself at her in a hug all in one movement. "Oh my God, Faith, what are you doing here?" Buffy asked, her voice slightly muffled by the shoulder of Faith's leather jacket.

Faith circled her arms tightly around her blonde friend. "I just got here a few days ago. Some shitty family stuff went down back in Boston and I decided it was time to come back home."

"Oh. I'm sorry. But I just can't believe you're really here," Buffy said, refusing to let go of the taller woman. "It's been what, like 7 years? How have you been? Do you need a place to stay? Can I-?"

"Whoa, girl," Faith smiled and put a finger on Buffy's lips for a moment, silencing her babbling. "I'm fine, better now. And I'm staying at the old motel for a while, but just until I can find a place."

Buffy's eyes lit up at the sight of Faith's familiar smirk. She could hardly contain her pure delight at seeing her friend again after so long. "Okay. Okay, can I ask two more questions?"

"Shoot," Faith replied.

"One: Do you have plans tonight?" Buffy asked.

"Nah," Faith answered. "Just got some unpacking to do, but there's no rush. It can wait."

"Good! Which leads me to question two: Wanna Bronze?" Buffy asked hopefully.

"Hmm…" Faith said thoughtfully, pretending to consider the offer. When she caught sight of Buffy's disappointed look though, she dropped the act and answered. "Sounds like a party."

Buffy's eyes lit up once again and she squealed excitedly as she squeezed her friend even tighter. She was literally bouncing with excitement. She let go though when she felt Faith try to take a step back. "Faith? What's wrong?" She asked.

"Uhh, nothin's wrong... Just, you're… not… shirt…" Faith trailed off, looking down at the floor awkwardly.

"Huh?" Buffy asked, confused. Then she looked down at herself and realized she was still unclothed from the waist up and to her further dismay, the dress she'd been covering herself with had fallen to the floor at some point. "Oh… Damn." Buffy squeaked, hastily picking a blouse up from the pile of clothes closest to her and putting it on. It was from the "too small" pile and exposed a few inches of Buffy's toned stomach.

Faith looked at her friend once more and nodded appreciatively at the way the top fit. "I like it," she said.

Buffy blushed slightly, making a mental note to move the top to her "buy" pile. "Thanks… So um, Bronze? When do you wanna?"

Faith checked her phone for the time. 3:03. She didn't want to have to wait long to see Buffy again. "How 'bout 4:15?"

"Sounds great!" Buffy answered cheerfully.

"Wicked," Faith smiled. She hugged Buffy one more time before turning and leaving the fitting room. "Later, B."

Bronze-Later that Night

Faith and Buffy sat together at the old corner booth they always used to sit at when they were in high school. They'd been drinking a little and talking a lot. It was so natural for the women to be together that they'd fallen back into their friendship instantly and hours passed without them even realizing. It was as if even though so much had happened to both of them during the years they were apart, a part of each of them had stayed at their table at the Bronze, waiting for the other to return. The live band switched out with another local grungy band and Faith jumped up excitedly. They began to play a song Faith recognized.

"Hey let's dance, B!" She said, making her way to the floor. Buffy followed her friend into the crowd and they began to dance to the beat. The crowd of bouncing and dancing people left little room for the young women, but neither of them minded being close to the other.

"This band's awesome!" Buffy shouted over the music. "Kinda 90s. Reminds me of high school."

"I was just thinking that!" Faith shouted back. "Reminds me of the Dingoes."

The two young women danced until the bands switched out again. "God, I'm getting too old for this shit," Buffy said to Faith, leaning her head on her friend's shoulder for a moment.

Faith nodded in return. "Remember when we used to dance like this all the time back in the day? What the hell happened to us?" They were both sweating and a little out of breath. They were relieved to hear the new band start playing a little slower, more mellow music.

Faith spun Buffy around and put her hands on her friend's waist. Buffy smiled and put her arms around Faith's neck. "This is more my tempo," Buffy commented, smiling up at her friend.

The darker-haired woman laughed. "Remember when we used to be cool?"

Buffy frowned and playfully punched Faith's shoulder. "Shut up, I'm still cool! Look at my outfit!"

"Whatever, old woman," Faith smirked at the shorter woman, earning herself another pout and punch. She laughed again. "Hey, you want a drink?"

A few drinks later, Buffy and Faith were back in their cozy corner booth, reminiscing about their teen years and laughing together.

"Oh my God, remember when you went through the lollipop phase?" Faith asked, cracking up. "What was that even about?"

"Oh shut up, at least I didn't try to make all my friends call me the Slayer because I wanted a cool nickname," Buffy shot back, laughing along with the brunette.

"Hey, at least I didn't have a thing for _Spike_," Faith defended. "Billy Idol much?"

"Oh, like you never had an embarrassing crush in high school," Buffy remarked, sticking her tongue out. She saw Faith's cheeks flush and called her out. "Yeah, that's what I thought! Spill. Who was he, huh?"

"Actually, he was a she," Faith replied, blushing harder.

"Oooooh, saucy," Buffy said, raising an eyebrow at Faith in interest. "Did I know her?"

"Actually, yeah. Hey I gotta go to the bathroom," Faith said, hoping to change the subject.

"Oh no you don't," Buffy said, grabbing Faith's arm before she could move to get up. "No changing the subject and no easy outs. Tell me who she was!"

Faith saw that Buffy wasn't going to let it go. "Okay, well she was my first real love, this gorgeous blonde. Kind of an ass sometimes, but she was a good person… Still is," Faith hedged giving an actual answer. She was usually able to be so straightforward with Buffy, but what had she just gotten herself into?

"Oh my God, you had a thing for Harmony, didn't you?! I knew you couldn't really hate her that much! Oh my God, you were in love with Harmony Kendall" Buffy exclaimed.

"Oh hell no!" Faith said, horrified at the thought. She playfully smacked Buffy's hand. "Gross. Is she still that annoying?"

"Surprisingly, worse," Buffy frowned, recalling how horrible Harmony had been back then. "She has her own TV show now."

"Oh shit! Gotta admit I didn't see that one coming!" Faith shuddered at the thought of how many people's minds Harmony was polluting.

"Anyway, if it wasn't Harmony, who was it?"Buffy pried. Faith looked surprised. "Yeah, that's right, I didn't forget. Nice try." She laughed at her friend's dismayed expression. "Just tell me, Faith. It won't change anything."

"Promise?" Faith asked, suddenly serious.

"Cross my heart," Buffy replied, making an X in the air in front of her chest.

"Okay but don't laugh," Faith said. Buffy shook her head so Faith continued. "It was… You."

Buffy looked shocked for a moment and Faith's heart pounded, but then Buffy rolled her eyes. "No, really, Faith."

Faith stared at the blonde. "Yes, really, B. I actually used to daydream about you suddenly realizing you'd been madly in love with me the whole time and you'd just grab me in the middle of the library and kiss me in front of everyone. Stupid, right?" Faith tried to laugh it off with Buffy, but Buffy wasn't laughing. She had a strange look on her face and Faith assumed the worst.

"I'm sorry, B. I just made this really awkward," Faith's face fell, dejected, and her voice lowered. "I shouldn't have said anything. I ruined our little reunion night. I'll just go." Faith moved to stand up and leave, but Buffy stood up with her and grabbed her arm. She turned the brunette back around to look her in the eyes, but Faith refused to look at her.

"Did you really mean that?" Buffy asked her. She turned Faith's head to look into her eyes and she found her answer there. "Do you still feel that way?" Buffy asked evenly, trying not to show emotion one way or the other.

"It doesn't even matter. Just forget it, okay?" Faith said, taking the tone of Buffy's voice as morbid curiosity. She looked down at the floor again and made a feeble attempt to pull away from the blonde.

"No, Faith. I need to know," Buffy said. She put her hand under Faith's chin and pushed her head up so she could look into her eyes again. The tears she saw falling down the taller woman's face gave her the answer she was looking for. "Hey, none of that crying stuff, okay?" she whispered softly with a gentle smile as she wiped the tears from Faith's cheeks.

"What are y-" Faith started to ask, but then she realized what was happening and cut herself off so she wouldn't ruin the moment. Buffy wrapped her arms around the taller woman's waist and slowly leaned in toward her. As their lips finally met, just for a sweet moment, she felt Faith's body tremble.

"Faith, why are you crying?" Buffy asked, worried she'd misinterpreted the woman's reaction. "Didn't you want me to…? I mean, it really was me, right?"

"It was always you, Buffy," Faith said, holding the blonde tight to her and burying her head in her shoulder. She leaned forward to kiss her softly again. "It was always you."


End file.
